Contribution of maritime surveillance data to French Maritime Spatial Planning: between technical potential and political constraints

Abstract

Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is widely recognised around the world as a lever for sustainable development at sea. In practice, it is a new form of negotiation for the use of maritime space and its resources. To support shared decision-making, MSP requires information on the spatiotemporal dynamics of existing maritime activities. In this context, maritime surveillance, operated in real-time by the State (defence, fisheries monitoring) is a strategic source of data (AIS, VMS and radar) and information for planning purposes. While these data are growingly used by the scientific community, their contributions to MSP remains marginal. This article identifies the main reasons for this, drawing on 38 semi-directive interviews with French MSP stakeholders. It highlights two obstacles to the use of data for MSP: a) a limited accessibility of data for many actors, especially public ones and; b) a lack of acceptability on the part of historical users of maritime space when faced with their mobilization. These results illustrate the fundamentally political dimension of geographic information in the context of MSP, and argues for a gradual “desensitization” of the use of maritime surveillance data, which have gained crucial importance in a context of increasing spatial competition between maritime actors.Keywords: territorial planning, maritime, spatial data, governance, survey